In 1959, J.L. Chestnut, Jr. became the first Black attorney to practice law in Selma, Alabama. He was the second Black attorney to practice law in the state of Alabama. He practiced law for more than a decade before founding the law firm of Chestnut, Sanders & Sanders, which would become the largest Black law firm in Alabama.

In 1959, J.L. Chestnut, Jr. became the first Black attorney to practice law in Selma, Alabama. He was the second Black attorney to practice law in the state of Alabama. He practiced law for more than a decade before founding the law firm of Chestnut, Sanders & Sanders, which would become the largest Black law firm in Alabama.

Attorney J.L. Chestnut Jr. began his career as a young lawyer working in Alabama’s Black Belt as a lawyer for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. He was tasked by the NAACP to implement the Brown v. Board of Education decision in Alabama, where he and other attorneys faced lawsuits in virtually every school district across the state. Chestnut and the other attorneys would eventually sue the entire state on behalf of Brown rather than the individual school districts.

Throughout the Civil Rights Movement, there were many people who qualify as heroes. However, there is one hero who has accomplished many things during the Civil Rights Movement and throughout his lifetime that the world now knows about it. That hero is Attorney J.L. Chestnut, Jr. He has taught us many, many timeless lessons on how to treat and love your sister or brother, no matter what color he or she is.

During the 1960s, Chestnut represented the civil rights marchers and civil rights leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ralph Abernathy,Dick Gregory, Rev. C.T. Vivian, Joseph Lowery and Dr. Bernard LaFayette. Chestnut was very instrumentally involved in the efforts that led to “Bloody Sunday”, which was the catalyst for the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

He was also involved in cases that led to the right of Blacks to serve on juries in Dallas County, Alabama for the first time in 100 years.

Chestnut later distinguished himself as one of the greatest trial lawyers in Alabama history and a prominent national attorney. Chestnut was part of a successful national class action team that garnered millions of dollars for clients during the 1990s. He would later become class counsel in the Black Farmers’ Class Action Litigation (Timothy Pigford et al. v. Dan Glickman, Secretary, United States Department of Agriculture, 1999), which was the largest class action lawsuit in United States history.

He was also involved in cases that led to the right of Blacks to serve on juries in Dallas County, Alabama for the first time in 100 years.

Chestnut later distinguished himself as one of the greatest trial lawyers in Alabama history and a prominent national attorney. Chestnut was part of a successful national class action team that garnered millions of dollars for clients during the 1990s. He would later become class counsel in the Black Farmers’ Class Action Litigation (Timothy Pigford et al. v. Dan Glickman, Secretary, United States Department of Agriculture, 1999), which was the largest class action lawsuit in United States history.

The characteristics of a hero are personified in this man because of his undying will and commitment to rid this country of injustices for all mankind. J.L. Chestnut, Jr. has been likened to Abraham Lincoln, a great American hero. Just as black slaves fought for freedom, J.L. fought to give blacks in Selma, Alabama the right to vote.

In March 2009, Jeff Davis Avenue was renamed J.L. Chestnut, Jr. Blvd. in his honor. Chestnut is a hero because he lived to help others. He was true to his vision and mission and he spent his life dedicated to every American who he thought he could help. He believed in the power of community by which society could improve and flourish. He was a living example of what we all should strive to do … to be.